Abstract

Children's beliefs about peer victimization at school were investigated in 30 preschoolers (mean age: 4 years, 6 months, SD = 6 months) and 30 third-grade children (mean age: 8 years, 2 months, SD = 4 months), who evaluated three types of victimization (physical, verbal and relational) in relation to four dimensions: stability over time and in different contexts, blame attribution and social acceptance for the victim. The results show some age differences in social reasoning about victimization: younger children were more prone to consider victimization as a stable condition than older children. Moreover, in comparison with older children, preschoolers judged as less pleasant the friendship with the victim. Results are discussed according to previous literature and new prospects of research are suggested.